Unibet Rose Rockets will not be at the Tour de France - French Grand Tour announces wildcards with a very surprising choice
Cycling
The wildcards for the 2026 Tour de France have been revealed. We know now the 23 teams that will compete in this summer's event which will not include Unibet Rose Rockets, but will instead include a big surprise in Caja Rural - Seguros RGA. The likes of Tom Pidcock and Julian Alaphilippe have also secured their presence in the Grand Boucle.
In 2025, the change has been made so as to allow Grand Tours to invite five teams towards their races. Three of these would already be guaranteed by Tudor Pro Cycling Team, Pinarello Q36.5 Pro Cycling Team and Cofidis.
A fourth one was virtually taken by TotalEnergies, who is a regular at the Tour, having the French history, squad and also the results in past years to justify their presence. Ordinarily, this would be the lineup, but with a fifth team being potentially added this year, it opened up the possibilities.
With Arkéa - B&B Hotels and Intermarché - Wanty disappearing from the peloton; whilst Lotto and NSN Cycling Team moved up to the World Tour, suddenly there weren't as many options. There was a clear favourite to take this wildcard.
Caja Rural to the Tour, Unibet to the Giro?
Unibet Rose Rockets is a French-license team and over the last few years has had a tremendous growth due to their social media presence - the team was created by Youtuber Bas Tietema and his team. However competitiveness-wise, the team has had an incredible boost this winter.
The signing of Victor Lafay and Clément Venturini mattered for this choice; former Tour de France stage winners Dylan Groenewegen and Wout Poels added further firepower; and even in terms of connections and big names attached to the team there was a reason, as Marcel Kittel himself is working directly with the team's sprinters.
The choice looked obvious, however ASO rewarded Caja Rural - Seguros RGA with the final wildcard. Equipo Kern Pharma and Burgos - BH have received the Vuelta a España wildcards, and so the other Spanish team that was in contention is being invited to the Tour, most likely due to the start in Catalunya. Unibet is likely to receive a wildcard to the Giro d'Italia in the meantime.
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A founding contributor to CyclingUpToDate since its launch in January 2022, Ruben Silva has played a central role in shaping the site’s editorial direction and long-term growth. Before joining the project, he built his experience through independent blogging at Echelons Hub and by producing race previews for Ciclismo Internacional, developing a strong analytical voice rooted in daily engagement with professional cycling.
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Originally from the Porto metropolitan area in Portugal, he holds a bachelor’s degree in Geography. His path into cycling journalism was shaped not through formal media training, but through independent reporting, community engagement, and sustained on-the-ground involvement in the sport.
Over the course of his career, he has conducted approximately 100 interviews across road cycling and cyclocross, ranging from one-to-one conversations and online formats to press conferences and on-site pre- and post-race coverage. His interviews include leading riders, team managers, and prominent figures within cycling media: Tadej Pogacar, Jonas Vingegaard, Mathieu van der Poel, Primoz Roglic, Wout van Aert, Joao Almeida and Tom Pidcock; managers like Patrick Lefevere and Joxean Matxin; and YouTube personality Bryan Kennedy (BKXC)...
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🤩 Here are the 23 teams set to line up for the start of the #TDF2026 on July 4th in Barcelona! 🤩 🤩 Voici les 23 équipes qui prendront le départ du #TDF2026 le 4 juillet prochain à Barcelone 🤩 1️⃣8️⃣UCI WorldTeams. 🌎 ➡ 🇨🇭 Tudor Pro Cycling, 🇨🇭 @Pinarello_Q36_5 et 🇫🇷
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